Saliva and sputum parameters in nine healthy and nine asthmatic subjects
| Healthy subjects (n=9) | Asthmatic patients (n=9) | p value | |
| Saliva | |||
| Total cell number (×106) | 0.5 (0.2–1.1) | 0.7 (0.3–1.9) | NS |
| Squamous cells (%) | 100 (96–100) | 100 (98–100) | NS |
| Viability (total cells, %) | 77 (65–82) | 75 (68–80) | NS |
| Total glutathione (μM) | 1.2 (0.8–1.5) | 0.9 (0.7–1.2) | NS |
| Glutathione disulfide (% of total) | 0.0 (0.0–6.4) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | NS |
| Albumin (μg/ml) | 40 (20–72) | 51 (32–75) | NS |
| Induced sputum | |||
| Volume (ml) | 5.5 (2.0–16.0) | 6.0 (4.0–11.0) | NS |
| Total non-squamous cell no (×106) | 1.3 (0.1–9.4) | 3.6 (1.2–13.4) | <0.02 |
| Viability (non-squamous cells, %) | 87 (75–98) | 89 (70–92) | NS |
| Squamous cells (%) | 18.0 (5.0–58.0) | 19.0 (2.0–38) | NS |
| Macrophages (%) | 63.0 (25.0–94.0) | 69 (47–96.0) | NS |
| Neutrophils (%) | 19.0 (4.0–69.0) | 22.0 (3.0–35.0) | NS |
| Lymphocytes (%) | 2.0 (0.0–6.0) | 2.0 (1.0–8.0) | NS |
| Eosinophils (%) | 0.0 (0.0–2.0) | 0.0 (0.0–11.0) | NS |
| Ciliated cells (%) | 3.5 (1.0–24.0) | 2.0 (0.0–9.0) | NS |
| Total glutathione (μM) | 3.9 (1.0–12.3) | 6.4 (1.3–19.2) | NS |
| Glutathione disulfide (% of total) | 50.9 (24.6–83.1) | 72.3 (36.5–97.4) | NS |
| Albumin (μg/ml) | 52 (42–82) | 124 (76–171) | <0.02 |
Data are represented as median (range) values.
Sputum samples with >60% squamous cells were excluded from the analysis.